Analysis of Instagram’s Android application package (APK) shows the app has a hidden portrait camera mode buried within its code, reports TechCrunch.
Peeling open the APK reveals a portrait shutter icon that looks like it would be incorporated into Instagram’s camera, which already has functions like boomerang and superzoom.
APKs contain all of an app’s code, including bits relevant to new features that are actively being developed but not yet activated.
Instagram’s unreleased portrait mode could point to a feature that enhances photos through blurred backgrounds (the bokeh effect) and different lighting options, for instance. To access the feature you would presumably launch Instagram’s camera and swipe to the corresponding mode.
Devices like the iPhone X and Pixel 2 have dedicated portrait modes on their cameras, so this would be a nifty tool if Instagram made it available to older devices without this function.
At this stage, it is unclear what its final form will look like, or even if it will ever be released.
After all, Instagram holds the right to scrap the mode altogether.
Pricey smartphones like the iPhone X and Google’s Pixel 2 already boast dedicated portrait modes embedded into their cameras.
A similar feature on Instagram would mean users will no longer need to take pics on their phone’s snapper and then upload them to the photo-sharing app, Instead, they could skip to straight to Instagram’s camera for quicker uploads on the fly.
